The Grantville-Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club is reeling from a loss that could be felt throughout the community, as John G. Peterson passed away Jan. 28. He was 94.

Peterson was the most influential and well-known of all the club’s members, having been a part of Kiwanis for the last 55 years. His cheerful attitude and his conscience for the community at large helped define the club’s role within Allied Gardens and inspire generations of leaders to follow in his footsteps.

“I think the thing that made John so special is that he always had a zest for life, a bright spirit that could not be extinguished,” wrote current G.A.G. Kiwanis Club President Kathy Butterstein. “He has been the heart and soul of our Kiwanis Club, and the essence of all that is wonderful about Allied Gardens. He was considered by many to be a second dad and granddad.”

Born in Winslow, Arizona, on Nov. 28, 1927, John Gilbert Peterson was the son of a railroad engineer and fireman, Arthur Peterson.

As World War II raged in Europe and the Pacific, John attended Winslow High School, where he was an athlete, but his father retired from the Santa Fe Railroad in March 1944. The Petersons packed up and followed Route 66 to California before John was able to finish high school, eventually graduating Sweetwater High School in National City at age 16.

When John was 18, and with World War II drawing to a close, the U.S. Army draft board came calling. John was assigned to Fort Belvoir in Virginia, and was sent overseas to Tokyo with the 64th Engineer Battalion. John received a World War II victory medal and an Army of Occupation medal for his service in the Army.

In March 1947, Peterson received his discharge and returned to San Diego, where he would enroll in San Diego State College on the G.I. Bill. After working briefly for Convair, in 1951 Peterson accepted a part-time position with Point Loma’s Kettenburg Boat Works (later Kettenburg Marine), a company that designed and built boats. Upon his graduation from college shortly thereafter, John started working there full time, and remained with the company for the next 38 years.

Also working at Kettenburg in those early years was a switchboard operator by the name of Norma Lee Gray.

John and Norma started dating and would stay together for more than 60 years, getting married on Sept. 27, 1953. In 1954, the Petersons moved to the newly-built community of Allied Gardens, where they welcomed a daughter, Susan, and five years later, their son, Jim.

Getting more involved with his community, in spring 1966, John Peterson was invited by a neighbor to a Thursday morning meeting of the Grantville-Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club. It didn’t take long for John to say yes, and on May 21, 1966, John Peterson was inducted into the G.A.G. Kiwanis Club.

While working full-time at Kettenburg with a wife and two growing kids at home, Peterson still found the time to dedicate himself to the Kiwanis Club. He was never shy about taking on a new project or a position on the club’s board of directors, from an anti-litter campaign with Marvin Elementary School in 1968 to a Sweethearts Ball dance for Valentine’s Day more than 50 years later.

In 1970, John Peterson and fellow club member Jack Scott spearheaded an effort to raise the American flag along Waring Road on all federal holidays. Keeping the collection of more than forty flags in his own garage, John Peterson continued to oversee that project for the next five decades. In 2020, Peterson and Scott were honored for 50 years of these patriotic displays.

John served as president of the G.A.G. Kiwanis Club in 1971-72, and was named Kiwanian of the Year, the club’s highest honor, three times, and in three different decades: 1973-74, 1996-97, and 2011-12. In 2017, the Kiwanis Club renamed that award after Peterson.

By the time John retired as vice president of Kettenburg Marine in 1989, he was willing to fully commit himself to Kiwanis.

His duties as a husband, however, took precedence when his wife, Norma, suffered a debilitating stroke in the late 1990s. Suddenly, John had to learn how to do basic chores around the house, many of which were handled by Norma throughout their marriage. He learned how to cook for them both, and served faithfully as her caretaker until Norma passed away in 2013. As good as he was for his community, he was even greater as a husband.

He still made time for Kiwanis, though, constantly inviting new guests and prospective members to the club’s weekly breakfast meetings. He believed in the importance of maintaining good relations with other organizations in the community, including the Mission Times Courier, who in 2013 named him the “Nicest Man in Allied Gardens.”

On June 28, 2016, the City Council proclaimed “John Peterson Day” throughout the City of San Diego, in recognition of John’s 50th year as a Kiwanian.

In 2021, Peterson was one of four living members honored by G.A.G. Kiwanis for their military service in World War II. A plaque was dedicated bearing the names of these four members in the Veterans Memorial Park atop Mount Soledad in La Jolla.

John was one of only two members of the club to serve for 55 years, joining Bob Frankhouser (1960-2015) in that distinction.

If there was ever a need in the community, or a chance for Kiwanis to boost the spirits of Allied Gardens, you can be sure that John Peterson was nearby.

“John was a fine man, and a person we can all emulate,” recalled fellow Kiwanis member Phil Bennett.

Services were held on Feb. 25. The G.A.G. Kiwanis Club once again raised the American flags that same morning in tribute to their finest member, the first time such an honor has been bestowed upon one of their own.

In lieu of flowers, the Peterson family has requested that donations should be made to New Entra Casa, a shelter for women re-integrating into society after serving time in prison. John Peterson and other members of the Kiwanis Club have supported the shelter for the past two decades.

The writeup and photo were provided by John R. Crawford, lieutenant governor of the Grantville-Allied Kiwanis Club.